A Father's sin
by CJ-T-Bone
Summary: In a semi AU where Master Chief is Shepard's father and decides to visit her on the Normandy. Now complete. :D
1. Chapter 1

**Hello people. This is something I've had on my system for quite some time but whenever I wanted to post it I got scared that it wasn't finished or good enough and decided not to. Today I have worked up the courage to actually post it. Please enjoy and leave a comment if you liked it. No flames pls.**

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Shepard stared at her console with worry. Maybe not just worry, anticipation, anxiousness, a little bit of happiness but most of all, fear. These were not emotions a daughter was meant to feel when receiving a mail from their father.

She read it again for what must have been the 7th time.

 _Commander Shepard._

 _It is my understanding that you will be docked at the Citadel today. I wish to meet up and inspect your progress thus far in your search for Saren._

 _Master Chief._

It was signed with _his_ signature. 'Master Chief'. He was actually an admiral by this point, a very well respected admiral but everyone just called him Master Chief.

He was the hardest man to please. He was never unfair or cruel, just very difficult to impress. He was also her father and she hadn't seen him or heard from him in over 7 years. She had heard _of_ him, the news never seemed to stop talking about him and his endless train of achievements that built up daily.

Slightly shaken she reached for the ships intercom. She took a calming breath before talking, using her commander voice to convey that this was important. "Everyone, can I have your attention please. We will be entertaining an admiral when we arrive at the Citadel. I need this ship spotless and everyone presentable. I mean it, not a speck of dust."

After making the call she set about cleaning her spotless room. Making sure everything was straight and in order, the fish were fed and the hamster was getting exercise.

She could already imagine him inspect her room, as he did so often when she was younger and he was actually at home. He would comment on the smallest thing.

Seeing a slightly overweight hamster would give him more than enough to say. Most likely something along the lines of: _'You can barely keep your pet in shape, how do you plan on keeping your soldiers in shape?'_

It also wouldn't do well to see a dead fish in the tank.

 _'Why would you waste money on something that you didn't plan on keeping alive?'_ She could hear the words spoken as if he were already there.

As soon as that was done she began the process of triple checking her armour and making sure it was factory new. As in: newer than the factory that made it.

The armour became the cleanest it had ever been. She then attacked her bed with a vernier and a spirit level.

All in all it took a little less than fifteen minutes to turn her already military-perfect room into something that could only be in found in a catalogue.

Being extra careful not to disturb anything, she left the room and went about inspecting the rest of the ship. The elevator ride was slower than usual and Jane quietly wondered if she could get Tali to speed it up.

Not bothering to second guess herself, she did just that and went straight to the engine room. Tali was speaking to some of the engineers.

"Tali!" Shepard called surging forward with quick steps.

The engineers broke off their conversation, blissfully unaware of Shepard's anxiety.

"Yes, commander?" Tali asked, smiling beneath her helmet.

"I need you to speed up the elevator." Shepard said quickly.

Even with the visor, Shepard saw Tali blink at the order. "Shepard?" She asked as if making sure she had heard right.

"When the admiral gets here, I don't need him complaining about a slow elevator of all things." Shepard explained.

"Shepard, the elevator moves slow to accommodate larger weights, if we speed it up it might not work at all." Tali explained.

Shepard let out a silent curse. "Can you upgrade it just for a day?" Shepard pleaded.

Tali seemed to want to scratch her head. "I might be able to." At this point Tali suddenly noticed the anxiety pouring off of Shepard. "Shepard, uh... are you okay?" She asked a little hesitantly.

Shepard let out a small sigh, feeling tension build up in her shoulders. "I'm fine." She said calmly.

 _I'M FREAKING OUT!_ She shouted silently.

She smiled at Tali, though the quarian didn't look too convinced, and left the engine room.

As soon as she got into the garage she began to panic again, there was a pile of weapons on the table. Ashley was going through them as her job description decreed but it was the sheer amount of weapons that made Shepard panic.

She briefly wondered why no-one was helping her. Glancing around the cargo deck, she felt her blood pressure rise. Garrus was buried under the Mako, surrounded by parts and tools. Wrex was nowhere to be seen and the requisitions officer was busy flirting with one of the navigation officers.

Not bothering with the two officers, for now, she rushed to Ashley.

The gunnery Chief looked up as Shepard approached. "Hey skipper, something wrong?" She asked, noticing the anxiety in Shepard's walk.

Shepard thought of a nice way to ask the question, but found that she couldn't think while stressed. "How long is it going to take to finish with all these weapons?"

Ashley, much like Tali, blinked at the question. Unlike Tali, Ashley glanced at the weapons, thinking of an answer. "Probably about 3 or 4 hours."

Shepard did some calculations in her head. They would be arriving on the citadel in just over 2 hours.

She gave a nervous smile to Ashley, which came off more as a grimace. "Let's see if we can cut that time in half." Shepard immediately plopped down and got to work faster than she thought herself possible.

Ashley blinked several times as Shepard took apart, cleaned and reassembled the guns with an efficiency that she never thought existed.

In the end, with Shepard's help, Ashley finished 4 hours of work in just over an hour and fifteen minutes.

When they were done, Shepard looked a mess with grease and gun oil. Ashley simply sat dumfounded and staring at the commander.

Shepard took a few deep breaths then locked eyes with Ashley. The commanders eyes filled with panic as if she only just remembered something.

"Ashley, get up to the top levels, tell everyone to get into dress uniforms and line up when we arrive on the citadel." She said.

Ashley blinked again. Before she could even question if Shepard was mentally okay, the commander jumped up and sprinted to the Mako where Garrus was still putting it back together.

"Garrus, need some help there buddy." Shepard said with a nervous chuckle.

Garrus didn't even reply and Shepard was already diving onto the tools and began putting the Mako back together with the efficiency and accuracy of a factory robot.

Garrus stood up and took a step back, watching the commander run around the transport several times, tightening every single bolt and shining every single spec.

What would have taken him almost an hour, Shepard did in little more than half that amount.

Once done Shepard look a sorry state of oil and sweat. She locked onto Garrus quickly. "Garrus, get a dress uniform on now!" She ordered loudly.

Garrus' widened slightly at the harsh order. He was quick to obey and ran off to complete his mission.

The next fifteen minutes consisted of Shepard running around the ship getting everything spotless and getting everyone into some formal wear.

5 minutes before docking with the citadel Shepard was in her shower getting cleaned up and dressed.

Just as she tied her shoe and cleaned the last of her bathroom, Joker's voice came over the intercom. "We have just docked with the citadel, commander." There was a small pause. "The admiral was waiting for us." He said.

Shepard's eyes went wide and her heart began hammering in her chest. _'He was waiting!'_ Her mind shouted. How long? Were they late? Is he angry?

 _'shit shit shit shit shit shit shit'_ Her mantra continued as she sprinted from the elevator, passed the crew that was lining up and stood right in front of the airlock.

The crew gave her unusual glances but said nothing and stood at attention as she instructed.

Her ground crew took up position behind her and stood at attention as well. Kaidon and Ashley stood at perfect attention. Liara and Tali seemed confused and were trying to mimic them, rather successfully, Shepard noted. Meanwhile Garrus and Wrex held their respective military salutes.

Wrex didn't seem at all concerned or even care the slightest bit but was behaving, Shepard made a mental not to take him out to dinner. Garrus seemed just as confused as the rest of the crew about the commander's anxiety, maybe even a little concerned.

The Normandy docked finally and the last of the crew ran to line up with the rest. The only one who was not lined up was Joker but he was able to get his dress uniform on at least.

Shepard took a deep breath as the airlock opened to reveal two figures, one was impossibly imposingly big and the other seemed to be a regular soldier. The soldier was carrying what looked to be a heavy box of some type, but Shepard's entire focus was on the larger man.

Shepard held her breath, finding it difficult to breath. The larger figure walked forward, slowly, powerfully, his boots resounding in the perfect silence. He was easily 3 feet taller than she was. His face was perfectly neutral and spoke of a long military career. His brown hair had their greying sides and spoke of age but his physique belittled this feature.

The man came to a stop a few feet from Shepard. As soon as he stopped, Shepard snapped to attention, followed by the rest of the crew, in almost perfect synchronisation. Shepard made a note to buy everyone a drink for that.

The admiral did not say anything at first and simply stared at Shepard. His brown eyes bore into her own despite the fact that she did not look at him directly.

Shepard didn't blink or move. This was how he raised her, from what little time he actually did spend with her. She never said: Hello daddy or I love you daddy. Hell she couldn't even remember him ever giving her a hug.

She still remembered watching other children in school, hugging their parents. She had tried it once, he had simply waited for her to finish then walked off without a word. Then she had begun saluting him and that at least managed to get him to nod at her.

After a few moments the admiral finally spoke. "At ease, commander." He said, letting his eyes graze over her crew disinterestedly.

Shepard dropped the salute but kept her back ramrod straight, not daring to give even the slightest bit of casualness.

"This inspection is merely a formality." He continued again, locking onto her. "My report has already been written and delivered."

This time Shepard did blink, her eyes unintentionally rising to meet his own. He caught her eyes and she swore he looked disappointed. She quickly averted her eyes to their previous location.

"You may dismiss your crew and ground team. I do however wish to speak to you." He said then waited for her to do so.

Shepard swallowed thickly and turned to everyone else. They all seemed shocked at the admiral's words, even if they had remained silent. "Everyone is dismissed. Have some shore leave, we leave in 2 days." She said. Her voice was commanding but her voice seemed softer. She needed those two days to recover from this meeting. She knew it. Saren be damned, she would need it.

It took a moment but everyone began shifting away, either back to their stations or past the admiral and onto the citadel.

The admiral looked to the private at his side. "Private, I'll take that off your hands, you are dismissed."

The private silently handed the package to the admiral and saluted before walking off.

"Commander, is there a place where we may speak privately." The admiral asked, keeping the package under his arm.

Shepard didn't dare speak and gave a small nod and led the admiral to her cabin. The walk was spent in perfect silence, with the exception of his heavy footsteps. Shepard felt something inside her sink. Here she was, a commander of a ship, reduced to a little girl at the sight of her father.

Everyone wanted to please their father and Shepard was far from an exception. She had tried, very hard, to please her father. It all started with that one day she saluted him instead of hugging him.

She tried to become a soldier, just like him, she went to basic he said nothing but paid for the tuition. She went to advanced basic, he nodded and paid for the tuition. She became a commando and he awarded her with a medal but never said a single other word on the subject. She became spec-ops and he said nothing, she went to officer's school and that was the last time she spoke to him.

After that she only had one more level to climb and she became an N7 graduate. Now she was a damned war hero and a spectre to boot.

She had the best military record in the entire alliance navy, second only to his own... but none of it was good enough for him. He never told her he was proud of her, never smiled at her accomplishments, never gave her the attention a father was meant to give a daughter.

He never even told her that he loved her.

Now he was here. Talking to her as if she was the greatest disappointment he had ever seen.

By the time the elevator had reached her cabin a tear had escaped her eye and her shoulders had sagged significantly. If he had noticed then he said nothing.

He stepped into her cabin first and glanced around taking in every detail. Jane followed two steps behind.

"I see you finally got that hamster I said I would never buy for you." He said glancing at her hamster as it ran on its wheel, blissfully unaware of the giant man looking down at it.

She felt something tug at her lips. It was hard to believe that he actually remembered that she always wanted a hamster.

"His name is Henry." Jane said softly, knowing full well he had heard her even if he didn't show it.

She watched as his head lifted slightly from her hamster to look at her collection of medals and awards. One for first place in track, another for first in archery, another for first in a high jump, one for the officers academy with highest honours, then one for second place in a math Olympiad.

"I remember that day." He said pointing to her **only** second place trophy.

 _'Of course he would remember the only event where I came in second.'_ Her mind silently lamented.

"You wouldn't stop accusing the winner of cheating." He said.

Shepard took a deep breath to banish the memory from her mind. "Dad, why are you here?" She asked shortly.

Slowly he turned to her but this time she held his gaze, despite angry tears threatening to drop from her eyes. She just wanted him off of her ship so she could grab a drink, get drunk and forget that he ever came here.

"Excuse me?" He asked. It sounded like a warning.

Shepard was feeling a bit too emotional to care about the warning. "You and I haven't spoken in over seven years. I was happy pretending you don't exist and I know you've been doing the same. So why are you here?" She snapped, tears ran down her cheeks unhindered.

His eyes narrowed slightly, he pointed his free hand at her. "Don't take that tone with me, Isabelle." He warned.

"My name is Jane!" She snapped to correct him. It was one of the things she had tried to get his attention. Obviously it was met with mixed results.

He took a step forward forcing her to take step back, and even stumble in the process, but she didn't take her eyes off of him. "Your name is Isabelle Sierra Mendez. It is the name I gave you and it is the name I will address you by!" He snapped with enough authority to make her lower her head and avert her eyes.

Shepard took a few deep breaths to try and control herself.

After a moment he reached into his pocket and handed her a handkerchief. "Wipe your face; you know I hate it when you cry." He said calmly. She accepted the cloth silently and did as he instructed, wiping her tears away.

"As to the reason I am here." He said in a softer tone. Shepard let herself look at him. "Is it really so hard to believe that I just wanted to see my daughter." He asked.

She would have laughed if she hadn't thought he was serious. "Yes it is." She said.

"Well believe it." He said and held out the box in his hands. "Unless I'm mistaken, today is your birthday." He said.

Shepard blinked wondering if she had perhaps misheard. She had honestly forgotten she even had a birthday. When was the last time she had even celebrated the darn thing... she couldn't even remember celebrating it in the first place.

She took the box a little hesitantly, glancing at him every so often, as if waiting for the punch line.

"You forgot didn't you." He said.

"It's hard to remember something you've never celebrated." She muttered.

"Whose fault is that?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Yours." She said outright. "You never bothered to plan anything on the day." She said, making a mental note to put today on her calendar.

"You never said you wanted to do something." He argued neutrally.

"You never asked if I wanted to do something." She shot back feeling the tiniest bits of a smile come to her lips.

"Open your damn present before I take it back and give it to someone else." He said, ending the argument easily.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, knowing full well that it would only lead to a long argument if he saw the action, and opened the brown industrial box to find... another box. The second box was covered in military green wrapping paper with golden bow on top.

She raised her eyes to him. "Really? Seven years and this is what you bring me?" The fact that she got anything was a miracle.

He stared on neutrally, showing no emotion whatsoever.

She pulled the present apart and looked inside. Her brow creased as she glanced at him then back into the box. She moved over to her desk and put the box down. She reached inside carefully, pulling out a figurine set. Two small figures stood on the small pedestal, both were easy to recognise.

The larger of the two figures was him, standing at parade, decked out in the old standard N7 armour, formally known as Mjolnir mark IV power armour.

The smaller of the two figures was her, wearing her own N7 armour. She didn't have a helmet and was smiling one of her happiest smiles. Her figurine was leaning casually on the taller while her father's figurine simply stood, all imposing as always. She put it down on her table and simply stared at it.

"I know I've never been a good father, Isabelle." She heard him start talking. She didn't turn to look at him but continued to stare at the small figurines. "It was never my intention to be a bad father. Your mother..." There was a pause. "...she wanted a child, I didn't. I was afraid that I wouldn't be the parent that the child deserved. I was right. You deserved a better father, one that would have been there for you when you needed it. One that would have shown you the care and love you deserved."

Shepard felt more tears come down her eyes. She slowly turned to see her father stand proud and tall despite his words.

"I never knew the first thing about being a father, I still don't." He admitted. "It's too late for me to make amends but I want to let you know: I am extremely proud of you, even if you had amounted to nothing in life I would still have been proud of you."

Shepard stared at him with watery eyes and he simply stared back ready to take whatever she could throw at him.

After a moment she felt a smile come to her face, a sob shook her body. "27 years I waited to hear you say that." She mumbled, holding her breath to stop another sob.

What happened next she was not sure actually happened. He moved forward and wrapped his arms around her. It felt surreal actually, to have her father hug her. He was hard as stone and warm as an idling engine. He smelled of expensive cologne that she would be able to recognise anywhere. His heart was strong, loud and steady. All of it combined that Shepard, for the first time that she could remember, felt like he was trying to show some affection.

She became painfully aware of how much larger he was than her. His forearm was easily as big as her head, just as it had been since she was 4. It was poetic in a way.

One of his hands rose up to gently stroke her hair.

"I'm sorry I took so long, sweetie." He said softly. What little restraints Shepard had left broke along with her heart. Her hands came up to grip his shirt with white knuckles and she began to cry freely into his chest.

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 **Let me know what you thought in the comments, no flames.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, there was a lot more demand for a follow up chapter, a lot more than I expected anyways. So here it is. Feel free to offer critique and I'll make some changes.**

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Shepard expected it to happen at some point. If he didn't hear the rumours then Anderson definitely would have told him. They never saw eye to eye regarding her but Anderson at least respected her father enough to tell him when she was dead and then subsequently resurrected.

Regarding her death, she pictured seeing him at her grave once a month, exact same time, exact same day, grieving for 5 minutes before going back to work and never talking about it to anyone. The same way he visited her mother's grave. Anderson confirmed that was exactly what he had done. Shepard could even manufacture the energy to feel hurt. She never really expected more of him.

Regarding her resurrection... truth be told, she wasn't sure how he would react to it. She didn't even know how she would react if someone was resurrected 4 years after they had been killed. Knowing her dad, he would read the report then nod in approval and go about his job as per normal.

She wished that were the case at least.

" _He is demanding to see you._ " Anderson said via the hologram.

"Tell him I'm busy." Shepard said. The last thing she wanted to deal with was her dad. Their last encounter had her in tears clutching him like a small child. By her calculations that was 4 months ago, not counting the 4 years of her death.

She needed to get the Collectors and her dad would just slow her down at the moment. It was a sidetrack that she didn't want to follow for more reasons than she cared to think about.

" _I did._ " Anderson replied. " _He is insisting._ "

Shepard hid her sigh well. "What did he say, exactly?" Shepard asked, hoping that she could just give a message for Anderson to send directly. Unfortunately the good captain had seen her plan.

" _Shepard, I don't particularly enjoy playing middleman for you and Admiral Mendez._ " Anderson said. " _Meet with him, what's the worst that could happen._ "

Shepard let a smile come to face as she listened to those famous last words. "With him, anything is possible. Including the destruction of the universe."

" _The same could be said about you._ " Anderson pointed out.

"It's a bad idea, and you know it." Shepard said with finality in her voice, crossing her arms in an attempt to end the argument as her father usually did.

She caught her reflection in a nearby window and realised she looked like a pouting 6 year old girl. It was times like these she was sad that she took after her mother.

" _He deserves to see you._ " Anderson said, giving her a pointed look.

This time Shepard groaned, grimacing. It took a moment but she finally caved. "Fine, patch me through, I'll talk to him." She allowed.

" _It's not that simple. He's already_ _on his way._ " Anderson said before his hologram blinked out of existence.

Shepard only had time to blink before EDI's voice carried over the loudspeakers in the room.

" _Shepard, the SSV-Infinity is approaching our starboard bow._ " The disembodied AI said. " _They are asking for you to land and meet with Admiral Mendez immediately._ "

Shepard groaned inwardly and fought the urge to command EDI to run to the nearest Mass relay.

* * *

The SSV-Infinity was one of the largest and most impressive ships in its class. To Shepard's knowledge there were only 3 competitors and one of them was the Destiny Ascension, flagship of the Citadel Council.

Watching it grow larger in space as her shuttle zoomed towards gave her the same feeling as one walking to one's own hanging.

Since the last time she had seen him they had returned to the groove of not speaking rather easily. Little was solved in that confrontation other than she knew he was, at the very least, proud of who she had grown into. A pretty big step, all things considered, but she hardly considered their relationship on par with what it was meant to be.

She wagered they would need two years and possibly several psychiatrists to solve all the problems that existed between them.

If it ever did come to that she swore the first problem she wanted solved was that he left her in jail for four days as a punishment. Granted she had been caught stealing but still.

As her shuttle entered the hanger, Shepard idly wondered why she didn't just get Joker to land the Normandy inside instead. It would have been a snug fit but it would have fit. The amount of fighters inside would scare most aircraft carriers and to complete the collection there were even several tanks and Mako's ready for service.

In a way she couldn't imagine anyone except her father in command of this ship. They were very much alike in many ways. Both were born to serve the military, both were large, powerful and intimidating, both commanded a great respect and neither of them would ever smile.

There were 2 marines waiting for her but no sign of the Chief himself. If anything, it only made a cold chill run up her spine. It just meant he was angry.

Being led down out of the hanger and down the hallways upon hallways felt eerily similar to that one time she was arrested on earth. He was pretty angry then too.

Finally, they made it to his cabin. Shepard entered but her escorts simply walked away.

The cabin was bare of most of the things she had in her cabin. There was no fish tank for one, no hamster, no trophy case, no armour case, no couch, just a small ensuite bathroom, a desk with a single monitor, a pair of chairs and a double bed.

He was there, seated at the desk typing out reports. He gave one glance at her and she snapped to salute.

"You wanted to see me, sir." She said calmly.

He looked back to his terminal and kept working. She resisted the urge to fidget and held her salute.

Several long moments passed before he finally shut off his terminal. He reached into one of his drawers and pulled out a piece of paper that she recognised. It only cemented her idea that this was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

He came to stand in front of her. "I received this letter via courier some time ago. I want you to read it." He said handing her the paper.

Shepard took the page, dropping her salute, and scanned it silently.

"Out loud." He added.

Shepard's heart picked up a few beats as she licked her lips and began from the top. " _Dear Admiral Mendez._ " She began. " _It is with great regret and sorrow that we inform you that your daughter, Commander Jane Shepard, was killed in action last week. Please understand that her death was a shock to us all. She was one of the greatest soldiers to ever serve the alliance navy. Her work and achievements were an inspiration to us all. As her father, and high ranking military officer, we could only imagine the high regard you held her in._ " Shepard took a breath to read further but her eyes outran her mouth and she saw what it said before she spoke it.

Her eyes widened slightly and she looked up at her father. He only crossed his arms. "Keep going." He said straight-faced.

" _With this in mind, we offer our deepest apologies that you will not be able to attend her memorial service as you are needed elsewhere._ " Shepard stopped reading and held the paper back. "You've made your point, dad."

He made no move to take the paper. "Finish it." He ordered.

Shepard averted her eyes to the ground. "I don't want to." She said.

He snatched the paper away. "Then I will." He held the page in front of him and continued in that deep baritone voice of his. " _Again, we offer our most sincere apologies and hope that you understand that your position cannot allow such luxuries. Shepard was a great soldier, friend and possibly the greatest daughter a man in your position could ask for. Her death was unneeded and too sudden. We will do everything in our power to ensure that the killers are brought to justice. Sincerely, Alliance High Command._ "

He stopped reading and looked at her.

"Well at least it wasn't your fault you didn't attend my funeral." She said.

"Was that meant to be a joke? You think this is funny?" He snapped. "Because I'm not laughing!"

 _'You never laugh.'_ She thought silently. "Sorry." She muttered out loud.

"What is going on? First I get this scrap sent to me." He crumbled the paper in his hand and tossed it aside, landing perfectly in the trash can without any effort on his end. "Then I start getting reports of Cerberus activity at your ships crash site." He began pacing. "Four years after that, I start getting reports that our outer rim colonies are going dark. I hear from Anderson that you are suddenly alive again. I get a call from Aria T'loak, of all people, telling me that you're killing mercenaries on her station. I start getting calls that a gun runner named Alison Gunn murdered Donavan Hock. Guess who she turned out to be?" He asked rhetorically while Shepard sucked her lips between her teeth. "I get a distress call from a prison ship that you're tearing it apart. On top of that I have over 17 reports of you going around the galaxy and causing trouble, most of them from Illium. **_Then_** , during all of this, I get a report from gunnery Chief Williams," Shepard raised her head slightly at that. "that you're working for Cerberus and kidnapping colonists"

He stopped and took a deep breath before looking at her.

"Isabelle, what the hell have you been doing?" He asked. His eyes suddenly narrowed. He lifted a hand to grab her face and examined the scars on her cheeks. "and what have you done to your face?" He demanded.

Shepard's shoulders sagged slightly. "It's a long story." She murmured as his hand fell away.

"I am very eager to hear it." He said gesturing to his desk.

Shepard let out a deep sigh and decided to take a seat.

She told him everything. Like most things where he was concerned he was a hard man to impress. Nothing she had told him seemed to faze him in the slightest. She told him everything, from the start where she had first touched the beacon on Eden prime all the way through her adventure after Saren, her death, her resurrection, the Illusive man, Miranda, as much information she could manage, she told him.

She told him because, despite all his faults as a parent, there were two things he was more than anyone else. He was trustworthy and dependable.

He listened in silence, rarely even asking a question. It didn't really matter, she knew better than to lie to him.

Finally, when she was done, it was almost 30 minutes later.

He remained silent taking in the information.

"How much do you trust the Illusive Man?" He asked at last, seemingly a lot more calm.

"I don't." She said instantly. He accepted the answer.

"And this Reaper threat." He began. "How legitimate do you think it is?"

"You were there. You were on the front lines when it attacked the citadel." Shepard argued vehemently. "How much more legitimate could it be?" She asked.

He, again, accepted the answer silently.

"The location of the collectors." He mused. "You know where it is."

"Beyond the omega 4 relay, in the galactic core." She said.

His finger tapped the table a few times. "So let me get this straight: You plan to go into one of the most dangerous places in existence, with equipment and soldiers given to you by a man you don't trust, to fight what could potentially be a threat large enough to destroy every sentient life form in the known galaxy."

Shepard shifted in her chair. "Well, when you say it like that." She began.

"Please tell me there's more to your plan than just flying headlong into certain death." He interrupted.

Shepard became eerily silent and Chief hung his head with a sigh.

"Do you have a death wish?" He asked staring at her again. Shepard shook her head minutely. "Do you enjoy seeing me angry and stressed?" Again she shook her head. "Then please explain to me the part where you thought this was a good idea. I want to understand." He said.

Shepard deemed it wise to remain silent.

"This is not what it means to go above and beyond the call of duty, Isabelle." He began with a sigh.

"Can you please stop calling me that? I had it changed almost a decade ago." Shepard interrupted.

"Don't interrupt me." He snapped and her mouth clamped shut. "I cannot understand what is going through your head. I can understand if you didn't want to talk to me but why didn't you contact Anderson or Hackett and ask for help?" He said. "Hell, I'm sure Udina would have given you a gun, if only to spur you on your mission to get killed... again."

"Dad, you've made your point. I'm an idiot. Can I please go now?" She asked.

"You're far from stupid, Isabelle." He said almost dismissing her question outright. "These are things that an officer like you should have and would have thought of. Why didn't you?"

Shepard remained where she was and stared at a nearby wall. "I did." She said.

"What are you talking about?" He asked quickly.

There was a beat of silence. "I did ask them for help." She repeated. "I sent a formal request to the council and to alliance high command for equipment and resources. They refused."

"On what grounds?!" He demanded.

"The Council thought that the Reaper that attacked the citadel was an isolated incident and high command didn't want to argue with them just because one soldier was crazy." She said.

She had never seen her father move so fast. In an instant he had his hand on his terminal, opening communications to someone.

A fairly handsome man answered. A captain if his uniform was to be believed.

He confirmed her guess. "Captain Lasky, get me Alliance High Command and admiral Hackett immediately." He demanded.

In that moment, to Shepard, it felt like she was in high school again. Her principal was about to get a thrashing originally meant for her.

* * *

Truly it was exactly like high school. She stood at parade next to her dad while he shouted at high command who, to Shepard's amusement, seemed very speechless at the moment. Hackett was there and, true to form, was onboard with Shepard and her dad.

Chief was very thorough in his words and even angrier than when he was talking to her in private. It turns out Hackett had been fighting for this for some time and hadn't been able to convince high command of much. Except now they had to deal with Admiral Mendez. It was a sight to see.

"... now I hear from my supposedly deceased daughter that you refused to assist her in a matter of, not only alliance security, but galactic security, on grounds that someone on an alien council thinks she's crazy." He said. Looking to all the world like a man on a mission.

" _Admiral._ " On the members found his voice. " _We sincerely apologise._ "

"No more apologies!" Chief snapped making the man silent. "No more sincere talks and calm thinking. Something is going to be done about this. Now!" He almost shouted. "And I am going to make sure it happens."

" _Please be reasonable._ " One of the members went on. " _Shepard was seen in the presence of known Cerberus agents. We have hundreds of reports and even video footage of her working with them. The overwhelming evidence led us to believe she was working with them in abducting the colonists and acting as an enforcer._ "

"I would work for them if this is the excuse you give to a galactic war hero who has served loyally for over 15 years and given her life in the line of duty." Chief snapped and the council became eerily quiet again. "This is no longer a discussion because there is nothing left to discuss. Admiral Hackett and I have given you the facts, all contradicting reports are officially null and void. We are personally approving the commander's requisition order. You **will** bring her weapons, shielding and armour for her mission and you will do so with a damn smile on your face." He said, Hackett nodded his consent showing he was with them.

" _And if we refuse._ " One of the members found his spine.

"I dare you to try." His challenge was met with silence. "I will expect the cargo at my location within the week and will personally see that it is installed correctly." He nodded to Hackett then cut the connection before turning to Shepard.

She was trying her best to hide her smile but was failing somewhat miserably.

"Wipe that smug grin off your face." He ordered. If anything it only made Shepard smile wider. "Contact Anderson and tell him I want a meeting with the Citadel Council."

That made Shepard's grin drop.

* * *

The earliest date that could be scheduled was almost a month later. During that time she had not seen or spoken to him. He was always busy with something else and she barely had a glimpse of the man until they arrived at the council chambers.

Shepard was not allowed to attend the meeting and neither was Anderson. The captain didn't seem too worried but Shepard couldn't stop pacing with worry that her father would cause an interplanetary incident.

"You don't give him enough credit." Anderson said as he watched her pace.

"If you knew him like I knew him you wouldn't say that." She said coming to a stop. "All it would take is Sparatus to say something stupid and my dad would pop his head like a grape."

"If you think that then you don't know him very well." Anderson said seriously.

"Of course I don't." Shepard said without hesitation. "I know his name, his rank and I know he doesn't like to smile, but that's about all there is to him. Maybe in some deep dark corner of his soul there's a decent human being but I haven't seen it yet." She said crossing her arms and glaring at the door that led to the council and her father.

Anderson let the subject drop knowing that convincing Shepard otherwise would be moot.

Silence reigned for almost 15 minutes before the door opened and the sound of Tevos' voice called.

"Commander Shepard, Councillor Anderson, please come in." The councillor said.

Shepard entered with her shoulders tense and Anderson followed a slightly more leisurely pace. Her dad was standing there at parade as he waited for her to approach. The council looked a little less important standing beside him but Shepard felt it wise not to say anything on the subject.

She stopped beside her dad and saluted for a lack of a better thing to do. Anderson stood beside her, clasping his hands behind his back.

"At ease commander." Tevos said. "We have spoken to Admiral Mendez at length regarding a lot of things, most of them concerning you." The Asari paused. "We would like to begin by saying, we are sorry."

Shepard's eyes widened despite her best efforts. Anderson hid his surprise a lot better and may have even looked a bit smug if Shepard didn't know better.

"We knew you were obsessed with Reaper threat and, to be perfectly honest, it sounded like complete nonsense." The Asari went on. "However, we based most of our assumptions on the simple fact that we didn't know how much we could trust you."

 _'I'm sure Udina would love to hear you say that.'_ Shepard thought privately, though if her father weren't there she might have said it out loud anyways.

"Admiral Mendez pointed out several important facts that we feel were abhorrently overlooked." The councillor went on. "The first of which is, we owe you our lives commander. When the choice came down to it, you chose to save us over your own people. We, who distrusted you over a war criminal, you chose to save us. This should already have been an indication that you should have been trusted and we apologise for not doing so."

Shepard glanced at Anderson then turned her head to her dad. "What the hell did you say to them?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't interrupt." He ordered then looked back at the councillor. "Councillor Tevos, please continue."

"The second is that we had not considered at length why we should have helped your colonies in the rim." Tevos said. "In this regard Udina was right. Had it been any of our colonies we would have acted and we apologise for not doing so."

Shepard's brow was almost in her hairline as she listened.

"These two facts combined should provide more than enough reason for us to take your word to heart or at the very least consider them in a realistic fashion." Tevos said. "We will not go into specifics at the moment, but as of this moment you have our full support in the coming days."

There were several beats of silence as the words digested into Shepard's head.

"I believe that's all that needs to be said for the moment." Chief said, suddenly looking at his watch. "I have a patrol to return to and you." He said pointing to Shepard. "Have reports to deliver to both the council and high command on earth, I want copies of these reports. Be sure that they are completed by week's end." He ordered.

Shepard fought the urge to snap back to attention as she answered. "Yes sir."

"Excellent." He said before bowing his head the council. "Thank you for your time councillors."

"It was no trouble." Tevos said giving him a kind smile. "Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention."

He acknowledged it with another nod before heading for the door. Shepard blinked, staring at the council wondering what she was supposed to do now. Everything that had to be said had already been said.

"Shepard." Anderson whispered. She turned to look at him. "Don't you have somewhere to be." He said giving her a pointed look.

It took a moment for the words to register. "I guess I'll get started on those reports then." She said. "Councillors." She dismissed herself before turning and running after her dad.

She caught up to him some distance away. He was walking with purpose and his long strides didn't help her shorter stature to keep up with him.

"Admiral!" She called as she came to his side. He stopped and looked down at her, calm as a monk.

"What is it commander, I have work to do and I'm late as is?" He said in greeting.

Shepard hesitated for only a moment. "Thank you, for helping me."

Though she would never be able to confirm it she swore his eyes softened the slightest bit.

"It was no trouble commander." He said. "If that is all." He made to continue walking but Shepard jumped in front of him again.

"Sir." She said holding her hand to his chest to stop him from walking.

"Commander, I don't have time for this." He said. "If you have something to say, out with it."

"Dad." She snapped, getting his full attention. "Thank you. I mean it." She said softly.

He gave a casual look at his surroundings before speaking quietly. "Whether you believe it or not, Isabelle, I would do anything for you."

Shepard smiled cheekily. "How about calling me Jane?"

"Don't push your luck." Shepard would have rolled her eyes if he weren't there. "What type of asinine name is 'Jane Shepard' anyways?" He asked seriously.

"I thought it sounded cool." She defended.

He could only shake his head down at her. Shepard debated while the pair stood in silence for a few moments before she decided it was worth a shot.

"If not that then what about a late lunch in the presidium then? On me, as a proper thank you." She asked.

"Isabelle, I don't have time, I'm late." He said, glancing at his watch again for emphasis.

"And I'm on a suicide mission that is more than likely going to get you another condolence letter." She replied quickly. "Are you really going to have, _"I'm late"_ as the last thing you say to me?" She asked.

His eyes narrowed. "That's emotional blackmail. Don't think you're too old for a hiding or that I'm too old to give it." He said, pointing an accusing finger in her face.

Shepard smiled anyways. "Is that a yes?" She asked tilting her head to the side of his finger.

There was a beat of silence before he nodded silently and lowered his hand.

Shepard quickly fell in beside him and slid her hand into his own. She led them on their way and he stayed by her side.

It didn't matter that his hand was as rough as sandpaper, it just meant he was a hard worker. It didn't matter that his hand was almost four times as big as hers, it just meant that she was still his little girl. What mattered was that he accepted it and closed his hand gently around hers, because that meant he cared.

* * *

 **And that's chapter 2. Feel free to leave an emoji if you don't have anything to say, criticism is welcomed so long as it's constructive (Cannot make bricks without clay). Depending on how this goes, I'll consider a Chapter 3 but I never got around to finishing Mass Effect 3 so feel free to leave me some ideas in the comments.**

 **Shout out to RedShirt047 for giving me a little courage to actually post this.**


	3. Bonus Chapter

**This is a bonus chapter because, after going through all the ideas for a chapter 3, I have found that it would not be in my power to make something worthy. Not yet at least. I had this planned before chapter 2 was even an idea. It does reveal who Shepard's mother is, some of you have been begging for that. To be honest, I had so many woman to choose from I thought it was better just to leave it anonymous. Some people even made requests. Some fan favourites like Cortana and Kelly, some unknowns like Hannah Shepard or Parisa. I decided to use one that, I think, will be cool with most people, mostly because she's part unknown and part fan favourite.**

 **Enjoy, I hope you like it. :)**

* * *

Bonus chapter.

John followed the officer down the hallway to the holding cells wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into. Things had finally calmed down dramatically and he had actually thought that things would get better. To think that he had the audacity to hope for such a thing, it was a crime.

The officer stopped in front of a glass holding cell and gestured inside. "Here she is, sir." The officer said with a gesture of his hand.

John turned to look inside the cell and, true to form, there she sat. His 16 year old daughter. Isabelle. Piercings and barely dressed clothing. John hid his sigh well.

She was sitting on a bench chewing, rather obnoxiously in his opinion, on some chewing gum and staring at him with those piercing green eyes that belonged to her mother. Her stare was bored and uninterested.

She rose from her chair when she saw caught sight of him and walked over to the cell door. "Sup." She greeted, folding her arms across her chest and cocking her hip out to one side.

"Isabelle, what were you thinking?" John asked, before he could say another word she interrupted.

"What the hell do you care?" She retorted looking at him as though he was an idiot. She turned her gaze to the officer. "Boss man, let a girl out, I got places to be." She chewed on her gum a bit more.

The officer's eyes turned to glance at John then back to her. "It's not that simple, Miss Mendez." He told her.

"Isabelle, you broke into a military facility and stole firearms." John reminded her. He took a breath to continue but she interrupted him again.

"So?" She shot back as though it was nothing. "You're the commander of the facility, tell them to let me out. You've done it before."

Yes he had, he silently admitted but this wasn't the same. Those other times she was just caught in an unauthorised area, this time she had actually made it to the gate with military grade weapons and explosives. It was not the same, not to him, not after the amount of times he warned her.

He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off before a whisper left his mouth.

"Can we talk about this at home?" She said flippantly turning her gaze to her nails, each one a different colour from the last and a small extension on it.

He stared at her wondering what in the hell he meant to do. When a daughter decides to join a gang, what are the parents suppose to do? When a daughter went out of her way to cause trouble, what was the best possible punishment? When a daughter purposefully disobeys out of spite, what was a man suppose to do?

What would his wife have done? What would any sane human being do?

Odds are if she were still alive then it wouldn't have happened in the first place. So, on this day, he made a decision that no man should.

"No." He said seriously.

He saw her body slowly tense as her eyes rose to his.

"What..." She began.

"No." He told her.

A moment ticked past before she plastered a confident smile on her face and let out a scoff as though she had the entire situation figured. "I'm a minor, you can't keep me here." She taunted.

His expression didn't change. "If you think that, then you haven't been paying attention in class." He told her. She was indeed a minor, but that hardly meant you were exempt from the law.

A few long moments ticked by before, slowly, her confidence and arrogance faded from her face. "Dad, this isn't funny." She told him, her chewing gum all but forgotten.

"I'm not laughing." He said calmly. "Given the circumstances I will be able to organise a court date later this month, but that's all." He said.

Then he saw it. The panic that slowly filled her eyes as she began to understand what was happening. That was good, he needed her to understand that his position did not mean she could do as she pleased; he needed her to understand that there were things that she could not get away with. He needed her to understand that he was not happy.

"What..." She practically whimpered the word in a whisper. John began to turn away and she quickly hit the glass of her cell with her palm. "Dad?!"

"I'm sorry, Isabelle. I'm not helping you this time." He said and began walking away with the officer at his side.

"Wait! DAD!" She shouted slamming her fist against her glass cage. "Dad, I'm sorry! Please!"

John used every ounce of his will power not to react to her pleas. He couldn't. She had to understand and he didn't know what else to do to help.

"Dad! I'm sorry!" She repeated, louder. "Let me out, PLEASE! DAD!" She shouted. He heard the tears in her voice but did not turn to confirm it and left the holding area.

As soon as he was out he turned to the officer. "Keep her in that cell, bring her some prison fatigues." He told him. "Let her get cleaned up."

The officer nodded. "We'll keep her safe till you pick her up."

John walked out of the police station, trying his utmost to keep his heart and breathing in check.

* * *

4 days later, John was walking down that same hallway to that same holding cell holding new clothes in his arms for her. Something a bit more conservative than a short skirt and a tube top that was six sizes too small. A simple pair of jeans, a light blue t-shirt, a grey hoodie and some sneakers.

"She hasn't stopped crying since you left." The officer told John.

John said nothing, already hearing her soft whimpers from almost 30 feet away. It was all he could hear. He came to a stop in front of the cell.

She was still there, wearing orange prison fatigues that were 1 size too big for her, huddled in a corner crying with her head on her knees. John's heart broke at the sight eliciting only a quite sigh from him. He nodded to the officer and the man unlocked the cell door. She didn't react to the sound.

"Isabelle." John called into the cell from the door.

Her head shot up at the sound of his voice. Her bloodshot eyes were wide. A solid line of tears slid down her face.

"Come on, it's time to go home." He told her.

He saw the gears in her head turn for a moment as she tried to understand the situation. Silently she stood up from the ground and walked over to him, keeping her eyes trained on the ground.

He held her clothes to her as she exited the cell. "Get dressed and clean your face." He told her.

She took the clothes without a word and walked to the bathroom. She walked out a few moments later, head still concentrating on the ground and her arms wrapped protectively around herself. John expected her to question where her purse or other clothes had gone but she remained quiet.

He only gave her a glance before heading for the exit, nodding to any officers he walked past. She followed slightly behind, not bothering to keep pace with his long strides.

In the parking lot, John opened the passenger door for her and waited. She stopped a few feet from him shifting and looking uncomfortable. John had a good idea that it wasn't because of her clothes.

"Dad, you wouldn't have really left me there, right?" She asked.

John took a deep breath before slamming the car door closed and walking up to her. She took a single stumbling step backwards, shrinking slightly, looking less like a sixteen year old and more like a six year old. "Listen to me very closely; I'm done taking shit from you."

Her glistening eyes rose to meet his hard ones.

"I've been lenient thus far but enough is enough. You step out of line one more time and I won't be saving you again." He said down to her. "Do you understand?" He asked.

Her head bobbed up and down quickly.

"No more skipping school, no more talking back, no more interrupting people. None of this..." He thumbed the seven studs in her ear, and flicked the one on above her eye. "From this point on you will act like a proper young woman, you will not complain or whine when I give you an order." He said. "Do I make myself clear?"

She nodded frantically again.

He stared at her for a moment longer. "Now get in the car, you have school tomorrow." He turned back to the car and opened the passenger door for her again.

This time she said nothing and got into the car.

The drive home was spent in perfect silence. Isabelle slowly began removing her piercings while keeping her eyes staring out of the window taking in the sights. Nothing particularly interesting caught her eye until they stopped at a traffic light. She saw a poster of a man in green armour and a golden visor on his helmet. She recognised it well, the posters were all over the place but for the first time she read what stood beneath the image.

 _'Join the Alliance Navy. Don't just make a difference, be the difference!'_

Even after the car began moving again, Isabelle was still staring at the poster.

* * *

2 years later

Isabelle stood at attention by her bunk not daring herself to move as the drill instructor walked passed. Just her luck that said drill instructor stopped right in front of her. The instructor was one of the larger women Isabelle had seen, almost a full head taller than she was with arms that put her own to shame. The standard brown hair and brown eyes looked eerily similar to her dad but, then again, most military personnel looked like him.

"I'd recognise that face and red hair anywhere." The instructor said out loud. "You're Mendez's kid aren't you?" She asked.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Isabelle sounded off.

"Shit you sound just like your mother." The instructor said giving Isabelle an up and down glance. "If you're half the woman she was you will make this unit the greatest there ever was."

"Thank you, Ma'am!" Isabelle said.

"I expect great things from you Mendez, don't you dare let me down or I'm sending your cute little ass back to daddy in pieces." The instructor. "Do you understand!"

"Yes, ma'am!" She said.

The instructor continued walking through the bunks shouting at new recruits.

7 hours later

 _"_ _ **Mendez**_ _, you useless waste of space,_ _ **your father**_ _would be ashamed to see you like that."_

The next day.

 _"_ _ **Mendez**_ _, what would_ _ **your father**_ _think if he saw that bunk in such a sorry state?"_

Later that day.

 _"_ _ **Mendez**_ _, you punch like a girl, clearly you skipped out on_ _ **your father's**_ _combat genes."_

The day after.

 _"_ _ **Mendez**_ _, what the hell are you shooting at,_ _ **your father**_ _would have sniped that target at twice this range."_

 _"_ _ **Mendez**_ _..._ _ **your father**_ _..."_

 _"_ _ **Mendez**_ _..._ _ **your father**_ _..."_

 _"_ _ **Mendez**_ _..._ _ **your father**..._ _..."_

" **Mendez**... **your father**..."

Two months later.

"Mendez..." The drill instructor shouted walking towards Isabelle.

Isabelle spun around before another word could be uttered. "If you say one more thing about my father, I'll fucking kill you!" She shouted before she realised what she had said and had her hand clamped around her mouth, her own eyes wider than dinner plates.

The entire barracks became silent as everyone stopped moving and stared at Isabelle with wide eyes. The drill instructor had her eyes narrowed.

"Mendez, get your ass outside, I'll deal with you in a moment!" The instructor ordered. Isabelle followed the order without question and made for the door with quick deliberate steps. The instructor turned to the rest of the trainees. "What are the rest of you looking at?" She snapped and they all jumped back into action.

Isabelle was quiet as she was approached by the instructor. She braced herself for a reprimand or a solid beating but it never came. Instead, the instructor pulled out a packet of cigarettes, lit one up and began smoking.

"Guess you and John never got along too well." The instructor said conversationally.

Isabelle raised her eyes to meet the instructor's. "Ma'am?" She asked.

"Drop the "Ma'am" shit for now. We're alone, no need to be formal." The instructor said dabbing some ash off of her cigarette.

"Wait... you're not angry?" Isabelle asked, daring herself to relax slightly.

"Oh no, I'm fucking pissed." The instructor said with a perfectly serious face but it softened a moment later as she put the cigarette in her mouth and let it burn calmly. "but out of everybody in galaxy I think I know how feel better than anyone else."

There was a beat of silence. "So you had an asshole for a dad as well?" Isabelle asked.

The instructor let out a scoff of laughter. "Hell no, my dad loved me, took me to the circus every Saturday and church every Sunday. I know how **you** feel because I used to date your dad before he got with your mom."

Isabelle blinked a few times. "Oh." She said intelligently, unsure of how to respond. "I'm sorry, I never caught your name." She apologised.

"I never gave it." The instructor said before holding out a hand for a handshake. "Petty officer second class, Kelly Shaddock."

Isabelle accepted the handshake, almost cringing at the solidness of this woman's hands. "You and my dad huh?" She prodded.

"Dated for two years before we broke up. Fuck I miss that bastard." Kelly said almost wistfully.

"You knew my mom too?" Isabelle asked.

Kelly nodded solemnly. "Petty officer second class, Linda Pravdin. I knew her, she was my sister in everything except blood." Kelly gave a long look at Isabelle. "I swear you look just like her." She shook her head quickly. "I know what you think of your dad. I know cause that's what everyone thinks of him unless they actually took the time to talk to him."

Isabelle remained silent.

"You think he's an asshole who doesn't care about anything." Kelly began, giving Isabelle a hard look. "but I swear if you ever say that to my face, I don't care if you're John's girl or that you look like my best friend, I will knock your fucking teeth out." She said before taking a deep drag of her cigarette.

Isabelle lowered her head.

"John's a good man and a better friend. Linda loved him." There was a pause. "He loved her." There was a different tone in that last sentence but Kelly continued before Isabelle had too much time to think about it. "And he loves you too."

"Well, he has a funny way of showing it." Isabelle sneered to one side.

A wistful smile grew on Kelly's face. "Yeah, he does." Kelly admitted. "His plan for our first date was to go for a 12k walk." Kelly kept smiling. The smile faded quickly and her face became serious again. "He never told me he loved me, hell if he ever told Linda I would be surprised. Plain and simple, the word is not in his vocabulary, don't expect to hear it too often or at all."

"I don't." Isabelle said.

Kelly ignored the interruption. "But just because he doesn't say it, doesn't mean he hates you. I learned the hard way, Linda too. Your dad doesn't have a soft side, and if he does, we've never seen it. He is who he is and that's that. He's a hard man, filled with cement and steel and held together with plastic explosives. Nothing more."

Isabelle raised a brow. "and you loved him."

"I still do." Kelly said without hesitation. "Because, despite everything that his is, there are two things that make him better than any man, woman or child I have ever met."

"Which is?" Isabelle asked sceptically.

"He is trustworthy and dependable." Kelly said. "Anything ever goes wrong, you can bet your ass and life savings that he will do everything he can to make it right even if it means his head on a plate."

"I never really got that impression from him." Isabelle murmured.

"Name one time that he didn't." Kelly challenged confidently, her cigarette resting on her bottom lip and her hands on her hips.

"I got arrested and he left me in prison to teach me a lesson." Isabelle said.

"He told me about that one." Kelly admitted with a nod of her head. "Stealing military grade weapons is a federal offence that could lead to treason if you're not careful." She warned. "Now my question is, how many times before that did he... overlook... your little crime spree."

That shut up Isabelle rather quickly.

"I think I've made my point." Kelly said, nodding smugly to herself.

"Fair enough." Isabelle murmured.

"Now let's talk about your little outburst in the barracks." Kelly said dropping her cigarette bud on the ground and killing it with her boot. "I'll just come out and say it, you're fucked for the rest of your military career."

"Wait, for one outburst?!" Isabelle interrupted.

"John mentioned you liked interrupting people." Kelly mused out loud. "Do it again and teach you how to sympathise with men and their nutsacks." She said calmly.

Isabelle's mouth snapped shut, more out of confusion than actual fear of the threat.

"And that's not what I meant." Kelly said. "Look at your uniform, what is the one thing that identifies it as yours?" She asked.

Isabelle looked down at her uniform and spotted her badge that had her last name on it. "My name?" She guessed curiously.

Kelly nodded. "Problem is, that's not your name, that's John's. A name means a lot in the military and John's built a hell of a name." She told her. "He casts a pretty huge shadow and a lot more people fall into it than you think but in the middle of that shadow is you." Kelly said poking Isabelle in her chest.

Isabelle remained quiet.

"I'm not going to apologise for it and I'm going to keep comparing you to him. You want me to stop, you build a bigger and better name for yourself and you make sure people remember it. Threatening to kill me, on the other hand, won't get you anything more than an ass-kicking, served to you by yours truly!" Kelly said with eyes that Isabelle swore belonged to her father. "I've kicked John's ass several times over and I'll do the same to you." Kelly warned holding a finger in Isabelle's face. "You get me?"

"Yes Ma'am." She said out of reflex.

"Now that we have that sorted, let's get your punishment started with a nice brisk 20 kilometre jog towards that mountain over there." Kelly said pointing to the distance at a rather large mountain where the sun was setting. "Come find me afterwards for the rest of it. Take more than half an hour and I'll make sure you'll do it again throughout the whole night." Kelly finished and began walking away.

Isabelle's eyes went wide as she looked at the mountain in the distance. 10 kilometres there and back was no easy task. The road was rough and had a lot of turns; add to that, most of it was uphill and it was becoming dark.

"I wouldn't even be able to do that in one hour!" Isabelle protested.

Kelly paused to look over her shoulder and gave a sly smile. "Your father did it in 27 minutes." She said before going on her way.

Isabelle blinked at her before looking at the imposing mountain in the distance, the setting sun casting a shadow of it on the ground not 10 metres from her. Kelly was right, her father did cast a big shadow.

Taking a breath she began running, into the shadow and towards the landmark. All she could think about was her name and that maybe it was about time she had her own name to help her cast her own shadow.

* * *

 **There's the bonus chapter. Hope you liked it and that you're not too upset about who Shepard's mom turned out to be. It was not an easy decision and, if people hadn't been so adamant about it, I would have left it anonymous. In the future I may yet post a chapter 3 for mass effect 3 but as of now this story is complete.**

 **And for everyone who want the chief to meet Shepard's love interest. Let it be known from this point on that ever since I played through mass effect one and two, as both genders, I always romanced Liara. This story is no different. I will not bend, I will not break. Jane shepard/Isabelle Sierra Shepard is into the hot Asari doctor and not the scarred Turian sniper or the black guy from Mass Effect 2 or that biotic guy with the headaches. Suck it! Xp**

 **Feel free to leave a comment on what you thought, or leave an emoji of your feelings on the chapter. I love emoji. :D No flames, pls.**


	4. Chapter 3

**This is the final chapter of this story. I spent grueling nights and days beating my head against my keyboard hoping against hope that a finale would be created out of it. Not a lot of dialogue but hey people don't always need to talk to have a story.**

 **Enjoy. :D**

* * *

Shepard watched through blurry eyes as the destruction of the galaxy unfolded. She watched a Turian ship get split in two then watched as a reaper flew passed, almost unscathed. Not a moment later the reaper pulled a one eighty and did the same to another ship, a human battleship this time.

Shepard liked to believe that her vision was blurry because she was hurt and slowly passing out. Sadly she knew this was not true. Not the part of being hurt, she was all kinds of hurt.

No, the reason for her blurry vision was because she was crying. Here she was, sitting next to a dead admiral, crying. Who wouldn't? Anderson was dead, by her gun no less, the reapers were still on the loose and causing so much death it was almost unbelievable, the crucible wasn't working and she was hurt. Very hurt. Everything, down to the hair on her head. It pained.

She supposed this would be a good a time as any for some reflection on her life before she died, and she knew she would die, how was she suppose to survive this mess.

Her life could have turned out worse. She could have been a gangbanger, then where would she be right now. Probably dead. Instead she was laying on a piece of experimental technology that wouldn't do what it was meant to do, namely save the universe and make her famous.

She let out a scoff of laughter at the thought. She was already famous. She was the first, official, human spectre in the galaxy. She saved the Citadel, she saved the council and saved countless more people throughout her entire career. Her name was cemented into history, for what little it was worth. She was the best there ever was.

She saw another ship blow up, this time it looked like salarian.

It was a shame the best was not enough.

At least they went down swinging, she thought with a smug grin. It was nice to think that this time around the reapers were actually having trouble.

Another ship went up in flames and her grin faded, her eyes began to go blurry again.

It had meant nothing, everything she had done thus far, it was all for nothing. Any joke she made would not make it better or lighten the mood. Tomorrow was never going to come. She was going to die, her race was going to be extinct, and everything she had ever built would have meant nothing.

It was over.

Shepard gave one last look at Anderson at her side. "At least we tried." Her hollow words went unheard by the deceased man. She closed her eyes and decided that sleep would be for the best.

It took only a few seconds before she heard footsteps approaching, lots of footsteps. Probably Reaper soldiers, she didn't bother to try and fight.

"Sir!" A voice shouted. "They're over here!" She didn't recognise the voice but it sounded human.

Shepard let her eyes leak open, and made a half hearted attempt to turn her head. Heavier footsteps drowned out the others.

"She's moving!" The voice shouted again.

The heavy footsteps began to quicken into a sprint. Shepard again tried to turn but lost balance and began to fall to one side.

"Isabelle!" That voice she recognised quickly and almost jumped awake when a mass of green armour rushed in front of her. One arm of the armour held her upright while she stared at her reflection in an orange visor.

Despite everything she had just thought and everything that was happening, Shepard smiled, because he was finally here and he would make everything better, like he always did.

"Hey dad." She greeted him.

"Get the medic over here!" He shouted over her head before turning to her. "Isabelle, what happened?" He asked in a much softer tone.

Shepard opened her mouth to answer but her memory seemed to missing a few parts, there was something to do with the Illusive man being a bastard, Anderson being shot, the Illusive man blowing his own head off, it was such a vague memory and it only happened about 10 minutes ago. "I don't know." She said. She turned her head to look at Anderson's dead body. "Anderson's dead." That much she knew for a fact.

His helmet turned to the admiral stared for a moment then turned back to her. "We need to leave, Hackett has ordered a full retreat." He told her.

Shepard heard the words but she had trouble processing them. A retreat sounded very sensible at the moment. When your super weapon does not fire, the best thing to do would be to hide and find out why the trigger wasn't working.

"Isabelle, can you hear me?" He asked, one of his gloves came gently held her face. It was funny, the gloves weren't as rough as she had thought they would be, then again everything felt so numb.

She wondered if he actually expected her to answer him. She pondered it as she stared distantly into his helmet. She noted a medic pull in beside her but she didn't think too much of him. Not even when he began to do a medical check on her.

"Did the crucible fire?" She asked looking at her father, she knew the answer but maybe he would know something she didn't, he usually did.

"No." He said, his normally monotone voice sounding despondent

"Why not?" She asked confused, what was the point of a super weapon if it doesn't cause genocide. Then it's just a useless paper weight. She demanded her genocide this instant, preferably the genocide of the Reapers if it wasn't too much trouble.

"We don't know." He said shortly then turned to the medic. "Can we move her?"

The medic nodded. "It looks worse than it is."

"Get her back to the Normandy." Her dad ordered. Several soldiers came forward and helped her onto a makeshift gurney.

As she was taken away she saw her dad order more soldiers around, it seemed he had brought an entire platoon of soldiers with him. For what was unclear. She didn't hear what he was saying but with the way the soldiers listened she was sure it must have been important. It was almost artistic how well he fit the roll actually. The soldiers were more awe inspired than anything else... and so was she.

"Wait." She told the soldiers pulling her gurney. They paused and looked down at her. She pulled herself into a sitting position and shouted across the room. "DAD!" The other soldiers went quiet and stopped moving.

His helmet shot up in an instant and locked onto her. She stared at him for a moment and he jogged over, kneeling by her side.

"Dad, please tell me everything is going to be alright." She heard the begging in her voice and hopped it didn't sound as bad as she thought it sounded, but she was desperate for something, anything that would set her mind at ease, just so she would know that tomorrow was still an option.

He stared down at her, silently. He grabbed her hand in his tightly but not painfully. "I promise, everything will be fine."

She smiled tiredly. "You've never broken a promise before..."

"And I won't break this one." He interrupted her. The conviction in his voice was strong, strong enough that she almost believed him, it was comfort at least. He rose again and the soldiers continued to pull her away. She watched as her father's armour became smaller as she was taken away. It was only later that she realised it was the last time she would ever see that armour again... or the man inside of it

* * *

Shepard stared at the white marble gravestone at her feet. It seemed so unreal to her, like some type of vague dream. Often she thought that if she blinked then it would vanish right before her eyes or at the very least that the name would change.

 _John Mendez. 2121 – 2186_

The bastard actually lived to 65 and was still kicking ass on the battlefield. It was almost inspiring. There were no additions to add to the grave, after all what could she have put there? He may have been her father but she hardly knew the man... and yet she knew him better than anyone else.

This was the grave site she had set up. A small area at the local town where she stayed. This was the place where she had attended his funeral. To her knowledge there was a grand event set up for everyone else. She even received an invitation to it, but she didn't want to see the 30 foot statue of him, she didn't want to see the list of achievements he had gotten, she didn't want to see all the soldiers saluting his statue or offering her their condolences.

More importantly, she didn't want to be seen crying in front of the 3000 odd people, of all races, that would be there.

Liara had informed her that it was quite the event. Saying that even Councillor Tevos had made a heartfelt and almost teary eyed speech but Shepard couldn't even pretend to care. She had her own private ceremony with a priest and a gravestone. Nothing more was needed.

Even as she had listened to the priest, she felt numb and teary eyed. It was shameful, but more than anything it was confusing. This was the man who was the worst father ever, the man who had left her in prison as a punishment, the man who had never shown any love more than a hug and she was crying for him.

When the priest had been done speaking he had left, offering her some words of encouragement. Shepard couldn't even remember them, mostly because she had broken down beside the grave stone.

Today she wasn't breaking down though, today she was just visiting. It's been 7 years, going on 8, since the end of the Reaper threat, since the last time she had seen him. Even now, she could hardly believe it.

He had always painted a powerful picture. He had always been a powerful man, not just in rank but raw physical strength. Even at his age. His eyes were always cold and calculating, knowing your movements, knowing the exact right thing to say and sometimes she swore he had better mind reading capabilities than an Asari.

How was he dead? It wasn't possible.

But he was dead, he had kept his promise. Just as she knew he would. Though, had she known the price at the time, she wished he hadn't.

"Isabelle." The name floated through the air. Her name, she was still so unused to it. Everyone else seemed just fine with the change but she still found it odd. _Isabelle Sierra Mendez_. Only he had ever called her that because it was the only name he would address her by. She never bothered to ask why, but there must have been a good reason behind it.

She turned slightly to see an Asari walk up to her, hand in hand with a smaller Asari barely five years old.

Isabelle smiled as the pair approached. "I told you to wait at the shuttle." She said.

Liara smiled back but the little Asari did not and only stared at the grave stone with a slightly tilted head.

"Sierra was curious what we were doing here." Liara supplied, glancing down at the young Asari child. The young girl looked up at the sound of her name but when no-one continued to speak to her she went back to stare at the grave. "You know how she gets, too stubborn. So much like her father."

Isabelle let out a small scoff. Father indeed. She wished her dad was here, just to see the look on his face when someone told him she was with an Asari and that he was a grandfather of an Asari.

She liked to believe that he would be furious, shouting obscenities, possibly foaming at the mouth, that she would even consider an alien as a partner. Maybe he would finally admit out loud that she was the greatest disappointment in the known universe or that he would perhaps disown her and publicly denounced her.

The reality was... he would have smiled. He would have organised a small party then found an excuse not to be there. He would have said that he was happy for her. She knew that is exactly what he would have done.

She knew because she had learned something about her dad. Something that she had only learned after he was gone and after she had a child of her own. She had learned that he loved her with all his heart.

She knew it every time she looked at her own daughter. The feelings that came to her then, the way she felt herself acting. It made her realise how much he truly cared. That he didn't just sort out her problems for the sake of family.

Every time Isabelle would look at her daughter, she felt the need to stand straighter, talk louder and be the tiniest bit more assertive... just as he always did. She did it because she wanted the best for her daughter and she had already seen the worst the universe had to offer.

From a troubling childhood, to a violent adolescence, only to finish off with a brutal military career. Shepard had seen it all... just as he had.

When Liara had become pregnant Isabelle swore she would not be like her father at all, but on the day she had laid eyes on the tiny Asari, everything was made perfectly clear. It hit her what parenthood actually was.

It was not a simple, "treat your kid right and they will turn out fine." It was the greatest responsibility anyone could undertake with consequences that would sit with you forever. There was no right way to do it. There were guidelines to be sure, but the child still had the choice to accept your authority or not. Isabelle admitted, she had been scared to death, almost to the point where she wished the little child gone.

Then she had remembered what her father told her. ' _Your mother,_ _she wanted a child, I didn't_.' She understood then. He had been scared as well and turned to the only thing he knew, his military training, the only way he knew to assert his authority and make her listen.

Isabelle had almost fallen into that hole as well and indeed she was still dangerously close to doing so. She didn't know how to be a father; she didn't even know how to be a mother. Maternal instincts be damned, she was a hardened soldier! What did she know about children, Asari children no less? All she could be was a wall of protection... and maybe that was okay.

That was all a father was anyways, they were the pillar on which a family would be built on. The one everyone went to for support, the one everyone expects to solve every problem with a single glare, the one who provided the family with support and care. They were the ones who protected them... even at the cost of their own lives.

"Actually she probably gets it from her grandfather." Shepard said with a chuckle.

Liara chuckled as well. "And let's not forget she is one eighth Krogan."

Isabelle sent her eyes skywards for strength but smiled all the same. Her father and a Krogan. The two most stubborn and powerful beings in the universe and her daughter had genes from both of them... metaphorically speaking anyways, she wasn't entirely sure how asari reproduction worked.

She looked at her daughter as the little Asari pulled away from Liara and took a few steps closer to the gravestone. The little Asari stared at the grave intently.

Whether she liked it or not, Isabelle inherited a lot more from her father than her mother, his determination, his intelligence, his perseverance, his willingness to go to great lengths to help those important to him and most of all, his ability to perform impossible tasks.

Even at only 5 years old, her daughter was already acting more like him than Isabelle liked. The way she walked, the way she looked at others, the way she didn't talk needlessly.

It was a scary resemblance when a five year looks at you with the eyes of a hardened soldier, knowing you better than you knew yourself.

Not that Isabelle was worried or anything. All it meant was that she would grow into a capable and powerful woman.

"Come on, Sierra." Isabelle said. "We're going to be late." A wedding between Joker and EDI was not to be missed under any circumstances. It promised to be an event of the decades.

Sierra turned to look at Isabelle. "Was he important to you?" The little Asari asked

Isabelle glanced at the grave and smiled, holding out her hand to her daughter. The child accepted the hand with her own. Isabelle idly wondered if this was how her father had felt like whenever he held her tiny hands in his own.

"Yes, he was very important to me." She said.

The little Asari glanced at the tombstone one last time then back to Isabelle. "Who was he?" She asked.

Isabelle looked at the stone, her smile remaining even small tears formed behind her eyes

He was the greatest soldier in the alliance navy, the most respected and decorated Admiral in citadel history, the greatest human in the universe, the most trustworthy and dependant being in creation... he was all of these things.

But above all else.

"He was the greatest father I could have asked for."

* * *

 **So what do you think? Too much? Too little? Leave a review and let your thoughts be known. No flames please but constructive criticism more than welcome. :D**


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